Rug

The Bezalel School was established by Boris Schatz in 1906, one of the founders of the Academy of Art (1866-1932) in Sofia. His goal was to develop a distinctive "Hebrew style," as opposed to having Jewish artists work in diasporic styles. The use of Hebrew letters as decorative motifs was one of the elements of the new style. Foremost among the designers of alphabets was Ya'akov Stark, who combined Art Nouveau style with Islamic arabesques to create new alphabets. On this rug, the name of the workshop, Bezalel, Jerusalem, appears at the top inscribed within a cartouche in the interlaced lettering characteristic of works from 1910 to 1915. Similarly shaped medallions along the sides and bottom contain the phrase eretz ha-tzvi (land of the deer), a poetic reference to the Land of Israel. The circular medallions that separate the oblong ones are filled with a monogram spelling "Jerusalem."
The design of the central panel is based on the theme of the seven-branched menorah. Interlocking small lamp stands fill a trapezoidal field. In the corners are larger menorot drawn in an exaggerated version of Art Nouveau. Documentary evidence indicates that the design was the work of Avraham Baradon, who began study at Bezalel in 1906, working in the carpet department and later heading the department of damascene work.